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Chapter 546 - Rourke
🕑 Added 2022-11-08 00:02:24 +0000 UTCEnjoy!
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It was more than a few days before High Priestess Karin was able to arrange for Serenity to talk to any of the people whoâd been kidnapped from Earth. During that time, Rissa and Serenity toured a different part of Lyka each day. They toured Abiding 17, which Serenity would have categorized as a working class area, then Abiding 8, which seemed to be a commercial area, similar to Abiding 4 but less fancy and busier.
If Serenity understood it correctly, each number covered somewhere between one and three square miles; certainly not enough area to be considered a full city but far more than a neighborhood. It was about the amount of area usually closest to each individual node inside a city; a two-mile hike to find a node was a long walk.
Serenity somehow doubted that the Abiding nodes had many of their features enabled. This didnât seem like a particularly liberal place, so it was likely that the nodes were really only usable by the local guard, police, or city managers. They certainly werenât on the tour itinerary.
By now, Serenity and Riss had plenty of time to observe the dynamic between the two acolytes leading them. Acolyte Tinar was the one who did most of the talking; he clearly had the tour routes memorized, including occasional jokes and small bits of historical gossip. Acolyte Deek, however, was in charge. He was the one who set the schedule and handled the logistics. Serenity got the feeling that he was senior to Tinar, even though they had the same title.
The question of how they managed really high numbers was answered inadvertently on the third day, when they were sent to tour Abiding Field 7: they added extra words as categories to keep the numbers small enough to be comprehensible. It was at least twenty square miles, probably more, and was planted with a wide variety of crops. There were small barracks-style buildings scattered around the property; they seemed to be temporary housing, probably for workers.
On the fourth day, Rissa and Serenity toured Abiding 1. It was a large section of what had to be the central administration area of the city but it had been completely converted into a religious area. Unlike the other areas, it was almost a complete city; there were even some small industrial areas. Other than the lack of sources for food and materials, it was closer to self-sufficient than most of the sectors.
On the way out of a combat training facility, their guides led them to a meeting room. It was blatantly obvious that was the purpose; a table surrounded by chairs was simply too useful for the purpose to be anything else.
âStay here.â Acolyte Deek told the two of them. âWeâre not allowed to stay while you meet with whoever youâre meeting here.â
âWeâre not even allowed to know who that is,â Acolyte Tinar muttered.
Acolyte Deek glared at his fellow acolyte for a moment before he continued in the same flat, informative voice he often used. âThey should be here shortly; we will check back in an hour. If you are done, please open the door; if itâs closed, weâll go away and not check for another hour. We have a window of up to three hours available in the schedule, but that will impact your meal schedule.â
Serenity had snacks for both himself and Rissa. Theyâd be fine even if they missed dinner, but it puzzled him that there was a surprise secret meeting of indeterminate length showing up in the middle of a tour. The one reassuring thing was that the guides were clearly expecting to meet them after the surprise meeting; that meant it was unlikely to be specifically hostile, at least.
While Serenity was thinking, the two guides left and closed the door.
It was less than five minutes later when the door opened again, letting in a short, skinny man dressed in the same robes as the acolytes. Once he was in the room, he tossed the outer robe onto a chair, revealing dark, unadorned clothing. âYou must be Serenity and Rissa?â
Serenity nodded. âWe are. You areâŚ?â
The man grinned. âYou hide your Status; thatâs a good thing, especially here. Iâm Initiate Rourke. My outwards position is trainer of the novitiate, but my actual duty is as a Separator. I determine which novices will reach the heights and be considered as acolytes and which will stay as novices or be discarded. Itâs rarely stated that bluntly, but thatâs what my job is. Supposedly my calling, as well, but my actual calling is a little different. I try to save as many as I can.â
A grimace flashed on Rourkeâs face before he returned to the same grin. âItâs not always easy, especially not with the newest group. All too few are willing to learn the Book of Eternity without severe punishment. All too many wonât even try. Even those that are willing seem to have never memorized anything before. Learning the Book is the first step in the novitiate, and there are time limits.â
Rourke sighed and shook his head. âA few are being sent to Final Separation, but many are going to the Legions. They are not going as fighters.â The grin was completely gone, now. âTheyâre going as tools. Iâm not supposed to know why, but I believe I do. Theyâre from a new world, a world still in the protected period, arenât they?â
Serenity glanced at Rissa; he hoped sheâd have a clue for him, but she didnât indicate whether he should say anything or not. He was on his own for now.
Well, if he had to be on his own, heâd go with his gut feeling and his gut feeling was that Rourke was extending a hand to help. He hoped he was right and this wasnât a trap, but at this point even a trap would be better than more of these boring tours. âIf theyâre the people Iâm looking for, yes.â
Rourke nodded and reached into a pocket in the discarded robeâs liner, then pulled out a pair of small spheres. They looked entirely too much like the stone Serenity had found in Djenâs secret office for Serenityâs comfort. âThatâs not the only reason, Iâm sure, but itâs a lot of it. People from new worlds seem to be more likely to be able to activate these, but there are far, far too many in this new group.â
A frown crossed Serenityâs face as he stared at the spheres. They werenât the same, yet they were. âWhat are those?â
Rourke shrugged and the false grin returned to his face. âThese are birdseed, or at least thatâs what everyone calls them. I think the formal name is something like Phorus Amplifiers, but everyone just calls them birdseed. Theyâre very powerful weapons for those who can use them. They can let you cast magical Skills faster, with more power, more often.â
âAt what cost?â Serenity tried to Identify the birdseed, but the Voice didnât give any information. He didnât believe in power for nothing, however, so there had to be a price.
Rourke shrugged. âI donât know for sure. What I know is that theyâre only given to people who are Separated from the novitiate and sent to the Legions. People who are themselves considered weapons. They donât tend to last long, but I donât know if thatâs from the birdseed or from something else.â
âThe methods used to control them.â Serenityâs voice rumbled. He restrained a growl; he knew what giving powerful but dangerous-to-the-user weapons to people who werenât fanatically committed meant: you had a plan in place to control them. Heâd seen it any number of times.
It was a plan that tended to work very well when the disposable soldiers were controlled undead, golems, or summoned creations and less well when the disposable soldiers were intelligent people. Even so, regimes that used the method could last for a very long time as long as they stayed careful about their slave soldiers.
Rourke set the two balls on the table. âThese are yours. Theyâre used to test novices for Separation. Sometimes they wear out; these two should have some life left in them but they were reported destroyed. I know theyâre not why youâre here but I thought they might help.â He paused and bit his lip before he continued. âYouâre here to get your people out, right?â
Serenity nodded. He didnât say anything; he didnât trust his own voice after Rourkeâs revelations.
Rourke seemed to relax a little. âI can - I mean, you have a choice. The novices who havenât been Separated yet and who also havenât been accepted as Acolytes can be reached relatively easily. I know some people who can probably help you get them out, even override the restrictions on a Portal Node long enough to send them off Lyka.â
That sounded pretty good, but the fact that this was the first option made Serenity think that it was the one Rourke didnât want him to take. Serenity didnât really care about Rourkeâs preferences, but at the same time he was concerned about the way Rourke phrased the option; heâd limited the number of people they could help escape. âHow many?â
Rourke seemed surprised at the question. âI didnât say, did I? There are a few hundred Novices left in that group. Three or four hundred, I think.â
Three or four hundred out of thousands. That was an abysmal recovery rate. Heâd take it if he had to, any was better than none, but it wasnât what he wanted. He wasnât going to accept that Rourke was presenting the best options for Serenityâs people, but he was the local and they would at least give Serenity a starting point he didnât have now. âAnd the other option?â
Rourke looked down. âThere are two. We have a raid planned on the Phorus facility. The goal is to destroy the birdseed. Weâd planned to kill the weapons, the people, but getting them off Lyka and out of the Churchâs control is good enough. You can help with the raid; itâll be dangerous but the Legions have to be stopped. I can send most of the current Novices there as well, so you can get them all out at once.â
Serenity started to say something about the Novices but stopped himself. He didnât need to propose changes to a plan he hadnât even accepted yet.
âThe last option.â Rourke stopped himself and swallowed before straightening his shoulders. âUnless you have a god in your pocket, I canât recommend the last option. Lykandeon isnât about to permit even localized rebellion, others have tried. Itâs the option Iâm supposed to be trying to get you to support, but I canât drag someone into this. There isnât any real chance and the consequences of failure are nasty.â
Serenity wondered why Rourke was even there if he didnât think there was a chance. Perhaps it was as simple as having to try for the victories he could manage; after all, it sounded like he routinely sent people to death or fates worse than death. That had to be hard.
When Rourke mentioned having a god in his pocket, Serenityâs mind drifted to a set of tokens. They werenât actually in his pocket, they were on the other side of his Rift where they would be safe, but they might just be what was needed. âWhen you say I need a god in my pocket, what do you mean?â
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Author's Note: Rourke doesnât know where the name birdseed came from, but Iâm sure some of you can guess.
